This invention relates to a new process for the production of isocyanates containing ester and/or amide groups in which (a) isocyanatocarboxylic acid chlorides and (b) organic hydroxy and/or amino compounds in silylated form are used as the starting materials.
The reaction of isocyanatocarboxylic acid chlorides with alcohols or amines is known (Iwakura et al., J. Org. Chem. 31 (1966), 142). However, the selectivity of the reaction is poor. For example, the reaction of an isocyantocarboxylic acid chloride with ethanol in a molar ratio of 1:1 gives isocyanatocarboxylic acid esters in admixture with the corresponding urethane and unchanged isocyanatocarboxylic acid chloride: ##STR1## This lack of selectivity has until now been an obstacle to the use of the reaction on an industrial scale.